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At the age of 42 Leonard is in the twilight of his career on the PGA Tour. Leonard simply can't produce at the level he could 10 years ago, so his upside is extremely limited. He's still one of the bigger names on the PGA Tour because of what he's accomplished in his career, but it's highly unlikely he makes anymore memories while on this tour. He's not a good option in salary cap leagues, but he'll likely be drafted in the later rounds.
We've been wondering if Leonard is ever going to fully get back to where he was for years, but during this time, he's aged. He's nowhere near the Champions Tour, but at 41, he's probably not going to get much better. As such, he doesn't have enough value for a salary cap selections. Because of his name though, he'll probably be drafted too early. He should go in the 100-100 range though.
In a bizarre situation, Leonard teed it up at the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic thinking he had a 2011 exemption already in hand. He wasn't sure how, but that's what he thought the folks at the PGA Tour told him. That wasn't the case, however, as Leonard soon found out, which meant he needed a Top-3 finish at the Children's Miracle Network. Leonard did one spot better, finishing runner-up, which put him well within the Top-125. Leonard has work on his game the last couple years and it shows. He's struggled to reach $1 million the last two seasons, but if his final result is any indication of how he'll play this year, then he's worth a look.
Leonard's play dropped off dramatically in 2010, but don't panic, we've seen this before. Leonard was cruising along around the turn of the century and then his game mysteriously fell off in 2006. Just a year later, though, he was back to his old self. Expect history to repeat itself this year as Leonard has too much left in the tank to continue this downward trend. For instance, Leonard has really improved his putting the last few seasons. He ranked 31st last season after ranking seventh and eighth, respectively, in the years prior.
A late-season runner-up finish at the Children's
Miracle Network Classic catapulted Leonard over $2 million in earnings, which only added a cherry on top of a pretty good season. Leonard made the cut in 21 of the 26 events he entered and also recorded six top-10s. As long as Leonard continues to putt well, he will remain a top-30 player. Leonard's lack of distance off the tee will make it difficult to reach his previous level of play, but his overall accuracy should help him maintain this spot on the PGA pecking order. Leonard, who ranked 23rd at the end of 2008, toppled to 45th in the final 2009 Official World Golf Rankings.
Leonard is truly a wild card in draft leagues this season. He had a great season last year, but it will be difficult for him to repeat that performance. It appears that he's playing some of the best golf of his life coming into this season. Leonard is a tough pick to make in salary cap leagues though, because his number is set pretty high from 2008, and he'll have trouble improving significantly on it. In draft leagues Leonard could be a first round pick and should not fall later than the second round.
If you checked out of the PGA Tour after the Fed Ex Cup, you missed Justin Leonard playing well last year. Leonard was having an awful season until late in the summer where he regained his form. He placed well in a couple late season events, and simply took off after the Fed Ex Cup. Couple factors to consider with Leonard, one he looked bad early on last season, he was going through a swing change though and that could be to blame. Expect Leonard to be more competitive during the regular season this year, but his overall production, mainly his earnings most likely won't improve.
Yes, Leonard was 109th on the money list, and no, it had nothing to do with an injury. Leonard just simply couldn't get anything right last year. Well, after the first couple months he couldn't get anything right. What is so surprising about his play last year was that he was coming off a season in 2005 in which he won twice. Leonard is simply too good to play as poorly as he did in 2006. While he's not considered a must-have, he's certainly a must-consider.
How do you only gain four top-10s and still make $2.6 million? You win twice. Leonard was not the model of consistency in 2005, but he took full advantage when he played well. He won early at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and followed that with a win in May at the Fed Ex St. Jude Classic. As for everything in between and after, not much to talk about. His best finish in a major was 13th at the Masters, which happened to be his only top-20 at a major. Last season, was Leonard's third consecutive year with less than five top-10s. Yes, he won twice last year, but he needs to be in the hunt more often.
As it turned out, 2004 was pretty much a disaster for Leonard. He'll be able to step his game up a notch or two, but his best seasons are behind him. Can he still win a major? There's a chance, a slim chance. Look for him to bring in just over $2 million in '05.
Leonard could not get any momentum going last year. He had a nice stretch at the end of May, but otherwise it was a sub-standard year for Leonard. His lack of driving distance usually hurts him, but last year it was his greens-in-regulation percentage that hurt him the most. Leonard is a hard player to peg; he has the potential to win Majors, and to win multiple times, but we haven't seen signs of that over the last couple years, so 2004 could be just like 2003.
